Man

What a human being is, and what the will can and cannot do.

6 questions answered. About this doctrine · All topics

• With Chuck SmithAre humans made of body, soul and spirit?Chuck Smith, Vanity, Vanity, chapter 1: Now in making me a threefold being He has so integrated my body, soul, and spirit it is really difficult to divide between them. Whatever affects my body affects my mind, whatever affects my body affects my spirit, and whatever affects my mind affects my body. My body and mind are very closely related. Whatever affects my mind affects my spirit and whatever affects my spirit affects my body, whatever affects my spirit affects my mind. I am so interrelated I can’t really divide between the three of them you see. That’s why when your spirit is renewed with Jesus Christ it affects you every way. It affects your whole mental outlook; your whole attitude, your emotions and it will also affect you physically. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillDo humans have free will? Is free will biblical?Yes. Scripture holds people responsible for choosing, "choose you this day whom ye will serve" (Josh 24:15), "whosoever will, let him take" (Rev 22:17), and puts the refusal of the gospel in the will: "ye will not come to me" (John 5:40).
• Whosoever WillDo the depravity texts rule out a free response to the gospel?They describe the sinner truly and none of them says the word cannot reach him. Read each to the end: loved darkness is a refusal, the truth makes the slave free, delivered then obeyed, and the gospel itself is called the power of God to everyone who believes.
• Whosoever WillIs the natural man neutral toward God?No, and Provisionism does not say neutral. He is hostile, dead in sins, and loves the darkness (Rom 8:7; Eph 2:1; John 3:19). What meets him is the word with power (Rom 1:16) and the Spirit convicting (John 16:8), and that work leaves him able to do one of two things Scripture names: receive it (Acts 2:41) or resist it (Acts 7:51). Not neutral. Confronted.
• With Chuck SmithWhat is the purpose of life? Why did God create us?Chuck Smith, What the World Is Coming To, chapter 6: Now, like it or not, God created you for His own pleasure. You say, "I don't think it's fair!" Well, that's tough. That's the way it is. Like it or not, that's why you've been created. If you truly submit to that scriptural truth, you'll find fulfillment. If you don't submit to it, you'll go around forever empty, always frustrated, and ever reaching out for something more, but never finding satisfaction. Since God created you for His pleasure, the only way your life will be meaningful and fulfilling is by bringing pleasure to God. "Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). When you diligently seek after God, you bring Him pleasure. The way to have fulfillment is to live a life of faith seeking after full fellowship with God. You'll find the most satisfying and complete life you can have when you're fulfilling the basic reason for God creating you. Scripture, King James Version: Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhy did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden?Chuck Smith, Answers for Today, chapter 17: Why did God place the tree there? What did God want from man? God wanted our love and fellowship. How could God know that we really loved Him and wanted to obey Him, if an alternative wasn’t given? If there was no possible way to disobey or rebel against God, how could He know that we truly did love Him? How could God know how much we loved Him unless there was someone to exploit the alternative? From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.